Rail-clip.



o. M. KNOX'.

- RAIL CLIP.

Patented Feb. 8, 1910.

ORVILLE KNOX, OF KNOXBORO, NEW YORK.

RAIL-CLIP.

staats.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ira-tentati ret. s, raie?.

Application filed March 19, 1909. Serial No. 484,373.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORVILLE M. KNOX, a citizen oft-he United States, residing at Knoxboro, in the county of Oneida and j State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rail-Clips, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to rail clips of the general type shown in my prior U. S. Letters Patent No. 764,362, granted July 5, 1904, embodying a clip designed to firmly clamp the flange of the rail and to hold a nut-lock washer against retrograde rotation. l

In the aforesaid patented construction,'the l clip, which is in the form of an oblong rectangular block, is provided at one end with a clamping jaw to engage the flange of the rail, at its lopposite end with a fulcrum shelf, and betweensaid points with a washer-supporting surface through which opens a bolthole extending vertically through the block. Through this hole is passed the bolt which fastens the clip to the tie, said bolt being provided at its upper end with a clamping nut. t one side of the washer supporting surface the blockis provided with a longitudinal rib or flange against which bears one of the side edges of the washer. The washer-supporting surface is arranged above the plane of the fulcrum shelf, at the juncture of which portions a vertical shoulder f, is provided on opposite sides of which are i arranged stops or projections. The said i shoulder and stops are designed to prevent inward and lateral movement of a suitable tool whichl may be rested and rocked upon the shelf to bend a wing or portion of the j washer, initially projecting beyond the shoulder and above the shelf, into engagel ment with the adjacent side of the nut to l hold the latter against retrograde rotation.

Su'ch a construction of clip, having the flange and stop projections described, while l effective in use, must be formed by casting or forging, rendering it in the one case liable to fracture and in -the other case expensive to manufacture. The object of the present invention is to provide a clip which, while possessing all of l the advantages of the prior patented device, l may be rolled and thus more easily and economiucally manufactured. j iVith these and other 'objects in view,

which will appear in the course of the Subjomed description, the invention consists 1n rail.

the features of' construction and combination of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which :M

l `igure l is a top plan view showing the application of the invention to a tie and Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the clip. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the washer as it appears in its primal form. l

Referring now more particularly vto the drawings, 1 designates the rail to be secured, Q the tie or sleeper supporting the rail, and 3 my improved clip. The tie2 may be a metallic tie of any preferred construction. The clip 3 consists of a body of, preferably, oblong rectangular form the base of which is curved or cut away at one end, as shown at 4c, to lighten the structure and provide a reduced portion which abuts against the inner edge ofthe base-flange 6 of therail. This reduced portion forms an integral projecting clamping-jaw 7 to bear upon the inwardlyextending portion of the flange 6 and hold the rail down upon the tie 2. The upper surface of the central portion of the clip 3 is flat or plane-surfaced to form a seat 8 for a purpose presently described, and extending through the body of the clip is an opening 9 which coincides with anl opening 10 in the tie 2, said openings serving for the passage of a securing-bolt 11, the head of which bears against the under side of the top of the tie 2, while the threaded shank thereof extends a suflicient distance above the seat 8 of the clip to receive a nut fastened to the tie. At the end opposite the reduced portion 5 the clip is formed with an outwardly and downwardly eurvedor beveled face 121%, serving as a fulcrum ledge or shelf. and at the p'oiut where this ledge or shelf oins the body of the clip the body portion is provided with a vertical transverse shoulder 14 forming the boundary wall or terminal of the seat 8.

T he seat '8 is disposed above the plane of the shelf 13 and below the plane of the top surface of the reduced portion 5, at. the uncture of which portions is -formed a vertical, transverse flange or shoulder 15 arranged parallel with the aforesaid shoulder 14.. The seat 8 serves as a support for awasher 17, consisting of an oblong rectangular plate of the primary form shown in Fig. 5, said plate 1Q, whereby the clip is l being provided with an eccentrically-disposed bolt-hole 1S for the passage of the bolt 11 and arranged between the seat 8 and nut 12 and clamped by the latter against said seat. @ne ot the end edges of the washer engages the shoulder 15, whereby the washer is held trom rotation, and by reason of the eccentric disposition ot the hole 18, which is located nearer said end of the washer, the opposite end thereof is caused to provide a wing 19 of such length as to project beyond the shoulder 14 when the parts are primarily assembled as indicatedby dotted lines in Fig. 5. This wing is adapted to be bent up to engage one of the sides of the nut, as shown in Figs.- 1 and 2, to hold the nut against retrograde rotation. lt will thus be seen that as the washer itself is held from movement by the shoulder 15 and the nut by the wing 19 all liability of the nut working loose and allowing the clip to shift or become detached is effectually avoided, and thus the rail will be securely clamped against movement.

ln applying the parts to clamp the rail, the bolt 11 is passed up through the opening 10 in the tie and opening 9 in the clip after the latter has been placed in position, the Washer laid upon the seat S with the bolt projecting through the opening therein, and the nut then screwed home upon the bolt and, finally, the wing of the washer is bent up to engage the nut. This operation et bending up the wing is performed inserting the end of a suitable tool into the space beneath the ledge or shelf 13 and projecting end of the washer, the shoulder 14 servimr as a stop to properly gage the position ot the tool, and then the tool is used to pry 0r bend the wing upward to a substantially vertical position so as to engage one of the sides or corners of the nut. The ledge or Shelli` forms the fulcrum on which the tool may rock in describing its arc of movement. and its beveled surface'facilitates the application of the tool and allows the same to ride outward when operated to enable the wing to be easily bent into position.

The clip has a fiat base 3a which extends continuously between the inner end of the reduced portion 4 and the outer end of the shelf 13 so as to rest squarely upon the tie and firmly support the clip from movement. This fiat base and the firm support secured thereby prevents rocking of the clip and strain upon the bolt from the pressureof the tool on the shelf 13 in the operation of bendl ing up the wing 19 of the washer 1T.

l lt will be seen that a, rail-fastening conj structed 1n accordance with my invention, as j shown and described, is simple, cheap, 4durable, and etlicient and cannot possibly bei come accidentally disconnected from the rail unless torn bodily away with. its fastening, j while upon bending the wing back to its nori mal position it may be readily manually retracjk structure or a new rail substituted for a damaged or worn-out one. lt will also be described arrangement of shoulders and surfaces adapts it to be rolled instead of cast or forged, thereby enabling it to be more easily and economically manufactured.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

The combination with a tie, and a rail resting thereon, ot' a rolled clip resting on the tie comprising a generally oblong rec tangular body having a Hat bottom and a central flat top portion forming a washersupporting seat, said body being formed with a bolt hole extending through said flat bottoni and seat, the upper surface of the body being provided at one end with a sheltarranged below the plane ot and extending outwardly from one end ot-the seat and forming a transverse shoulderratits point ot' juncture therewith. and the opposite end ot' the body being cut away over the base and extended above the plane of the seat, forming a rail-engaging jaw projecting beyond the opposite end of the seat and a transverse shoulder at. the point of juncture of said jaw and seat. the said fiat base extending continuously between the cut away portion below the jaw and the outer end of the shelf, a bolt projecting upwardly from the tie through the bolt hole in the clip, anni; upon the upper end of the bolt, and a washer clamped by the nut against the seat, said washer having an edge portion bearing against the latter-named shoulder and a wing bent from a normal position above the shelf into engagement with a side of the nut.

In testimony whereof. I hereunto atlix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ORVILLE M. KNOX. lVitnesses-z F. B. Runnin, C. T. BROWN.

seenthat the structure of the clip with its' leased to enable repairs to be made to the 

